by Francesco Rasero “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it”: Google has adopted as its slogan this sentence by Lord Kelvin, referring it to our individual energy usage, to launch its new project PowerMeter, a future tool for iGoogle that will allow to measure in (almost) real time the consumption of each single user.
“Our lack of knowledge about our own energy usage is a huge problem, but also a huge opportunity for us all to save money and fight global warming by reducing our power usage –is the remark launched on the web by the famous search engine- So we’re studying tools to allow everyone to make smarter energy choices: the first one is called Google PowerMeter, which will show consumers their electricity consumption in near real-time in a secure iGoogle Gadget. We think that this tool will offer more useful and actionable feedback than complicated monthly paper bills that provide little detail on consumption or how to save energy”.
The tool can be used in three ways: “Analyze”, to seehow you use energy; “Save”, to reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint by making smart decisions about your energy use; “Share”, to compare friends’ and neighbors’ usage, striking up a little friendly competition.
Google PowerMeter, at the moment still in prototype, is being personally tested by a number of Google employees. A beta release is expected soon.
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